Side Of A Bullet
by sweetkiwi604
Summary: Of all the things the apocalypse had changed, death remained the same. Tessa wouldn't let him drown in the guilt though. Daryl/OC. Two shot. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

Side Of A Bullet

Shane had gone off the deep end, no longer able to keep quiet when he saw his once best friend leading a walker towards the barn. This man was going to end up getting Lori killed and he could just not have that. Angry words were exchanged as the group followed the scene, the men ready to step in if they had to. Tessa mirrored Daryl's steps but stayed a good fifteen paces behind him unsure of what was going to happen. After shooting the walker Herschel had been leading repeatedly in the chest to prove to the old man that she was in fact dead, he shot one final shot through her forehead to put her down for good. The group stood by watching the spectacle play out until Shane started to open the barn. There were pleads and protests from almost every member of the group for him to stop what he was doing. Even Tessa was surprised at her own voice as it came out softly almost like a whispered prayed that everything didn't go as horrible as she was imagining.

Daryl glanced back at her, their eyes locking for a brief moment, and with a short nod he had ended their silent conversation. Tessa trusted him with her life and if he said to stay where she was then her feet weren't going to move until he told her it was okay. She watched as Shane broke the doors open enough so that the dead could start tumbling through the open space. The Greene daughters' sobs floated through the air, mixing with the gunshots as one after another walker was put to rest. The dead were stumbling right towards her but Tessa never felt safer with Daryl standing in front of her. Sweat beaded his brow and coated his skin as he took out each walker with precision.

Silence; an eerie calm after the chaos that had just occurred. Daryl kept his eyes trained on the corpses in front of him, not even glancing in Tessa's direction until he knew they were safe. Well, as safe as they could be with Shane coming apart at the seams. The tension that settled over the members of the group was almost tangible, a dense smog of racing minds. It was the slightest shuffle that brought Daryl's eyes back to the barn doors. The gentle creak brought a few more eyes back to where the mangled bodies laid. It was the low growl though that stabbed every member of the group right through the heart.

Tessa heard the sobs and the shuffling feet as Carol dashed past her in search of what used to be her daughter. Tessa barely got out Daryl's name for him to stop her but there was no need. He had caught the hysterical mother with one arm keeping her back from the monster that was no longer her daughter. The little girl's name spilt from her mouth, over and over, like if she said it enough that maybe Sophia would hear her. Shane actually appeared guilt ridden as Rick stepped closer, his gun aimed at Sophia's head. This wasn't how it was supposed to be; children were supposed to outlive their parents by decades. But that was just another thing this new world had taken away from civilization. There were no more rules, no more right or wrong, or even destinies. The evil spread throughout the land without worry of wealth, age, religion, or race.

The shot rang out through the air, her small body crumbling to the dusty ground. Carol had slumped over, heart wrenching sobs racking her frame, as Daryl held onto her as if he let go she would fall into a million pieces. Images of his past flashed through his mind, seeing his old man lying in pool of his own blood but he pushed the memories down. Locking them away in his mind, he tried to get Carol away from the scene not wanting anyone else to have to deal with the weight of those pictures that would forever be seared there.

"Don't look," he tried to haul her to her feet, angling his body so that she wouldn't have a direct view of her daughter. "Don't look."

Carol cried out in a fit of desperation, pushing away from him and running off toward Dale's RV. Tessa still remained in her spot though she knew any danger was gone. She could see him working hard to push keep the memories from overtaking him. Tessa had to admit she was having a difficult time handling it as well but she had her time to grieve. The second he stalked past her it was like taking her feet out of the invisible lock he had set them in. She spared a sorrowful glance at the Greene family before catching up to Daryl who was headed in the direction Carol went.

"You can't fix her anymore than you can me," Tessa tried to stop him for going after the weeping woman.

He shook his head as he kept walking, "Don't look so broken anymore to me."

_Because I had you_, she thought to herself as she silently followed in his footsteps because if he was going to take on this guilt she was going to make sure he didn't end up drowning in it instead.

**X-X-X**

"We're ready," Lori came to the door of the RV and told Carol.

Tessa instantly went to move but saw Carol stayed rooted in her spot, staring out the dirty window. Lori tried again but Carol refused to go. Daryl was even taken back, adding his own, "That's your little girl."

"No," Carol shook her head. "_My_ Sophia died a long time ago."

Lori excused herself leaving Daryl and Tessa in the RV with Carol. Tessa thought they could wait it out, that she would change her mind, or come to her senses but Carol just sat there staring out that damn window. Tessa felt her whole being fill with anger. If she was still the person she had been before the world went to shit she would have bit her tongue and walked out the door without a second glance in the woman's direction. However, she wasn't that woman anymore, and she couldn't help as the words rolled off her tongue with great ease.

"You selfish, bitch."

Daryl stopped chewing on his thumb nail as Carol's head whipped in Tessa's direction. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Tessa refused to back down, her fiery red hair almost amplified by her anger. "You're a selfish, bitch. This man," she held her arm out in Daryl's direction for emphasis, "Spent every day out in those damn woods looking for her. For what? He took an arrow and a bullet for someone you claim 'died a long time ago'? No, you had some hope, some sliver of a prayer locked in there somewhere that she would come running back into your arms. Don't disrespect him by not going to her burial and don't you dare disrespect your daughter's memory."

Tessa left the RV, having said her part and knowing if Carol responded she didn't have full control over her temper and she was liable to take a swing. She paced the dirt pathway, counting to ten so many times that even the numbers were starting to piss her off. Tessa was the one whose stomach dropped the second she saw Daryl being carried into the Greene's house. It was Tessa that didn't move from his bedside until he was awake and even then she stayed up the whole night making sure he wouldn't slip off. What had Carol done? Bring him dinner on a tray with a muffled thank you.

Daryl silently exited the RV and if she hadn't been paying attention she would have missed him as he went towards where they were burying the bodies.

Of all the things that the apocalypse had changed death remained the same. Tessa couldn't recall who spoke, if anyone had given some kind of eulogy at all, as her heart beat hard against her chest. She thought about her own loss since this whole ordeal had started, the lost loved ones of the people standing around her, and especially the ones that were able to slip off into the darkness before the epidemic hit. The freshly packed dirt held a finality to it all that Carol should have been there to see. She should have paid her respects instead of carrying around the notion that if she pushed it down it would go away. Tessa's eyes shifted over to Daryl and worry creased her brow as he stood, gripping the strap to his crossbow so tightly that his knuckles were white. One more glance at the new grave and he had enough, his steps eating up the ground to get as far away from it as possible.

**X-X-X**

Tessa stood with one hand on her hip and an eyebrow arched as Daryl set up his tent away from the camp. She had half of a mind to find Carol and shake her until she realized that this world came with consequences. Atlanta was barely safe enough to let kids run free before the world turned upside down. Now? Well, now it was just plain reckless. Children didn't need freedom or self-exploration, they needed to be watched after under a strict eye and taught to follow commands without a second of hesitation. They might not grow up to be peacekeepers but they would grow up and more importantly they would be survivors.

Deciding that she cared more about where Daryl's head was at than Carol's excuses she made her way through the yard. She sat down on a log that was set in front of the pile of sticks he would light later for a fire. He didn't object to her being there but he certainly didn't welcome her either as he continued to slide his knife over the stick in calculated strokes.

"This doesn't fall on you," Tessa finally spoke up though she kept her gaze on the laces of her boots. He snorted in disbelief and rage flashed through her eyes as she stood up. "Fucking Christ, Daryl, the guilt needs to fall on her for letting Sophia more than an arm's length away from her. You did _everything_ you could for that little girl. You're brooding like you lost your own goddamn child."

"Sophia wasn't mine!"

Tessa didn't flinch from his volume or his proximity as he got in her face, an unhumerous chuckle falling from her lips. "Neither was Kaitlyn and yet here you are four years later still holding my damn hand." He kept his face stoic but she saw the memory flash through his eyes. "I'm not going to let you pull away. You can't do anything without people anymore. And so help me God if she pulls you down with her I'll show her the side of a bullet."


	2. Chapter 2

**Last part, for now, might turn this into a chapter fic in the future if anyone is interested.**

Chapter 2

"_He brought me to see the Cherokee roses. He said we would find her. He gave me hope," Carol took her pain out on Tessa, the only one who had told the woman how it was instead of coddling her like some China doll. She had tried to avoid the woman that set her blood on fire but the farm was only so big and it was inevitable._

_"Then you should have been there to say goodbye!" Tessa couldn't understand the woman standing in front of her and if she hadn't seen Sophia for herself she would have doubted that she had a child at all. "Why didn't you go after her?"_

_Carol seemed to still at Tessa's question, the expression on her face louder than the word itself. "What?"_

_"I don't care if it was two walkers or an army- if my little girl went running off into the woods there wouldn't be a force strong enough to hold me back. But what did you do? Cry yourself into a pool of pity. Pathetic." The slap across her face seemed to echo across the quiet farm. Tessa took a deep breath to keep from dropping to this woman's level though her hand clenched into a fist. "Funny how when I spit the truth your anger comes out but I'll tell you right now, bitch, hit me again and I'll knock you on your ass."_

Tessa sat around the fire with Daryl at his campsite away from the rest of the group as she thought about the interaction with Carol from earlier in the day. God, what she wouldn't give to put a bullet through that woman's head. Tessa wouldn't admit it but this whole ordeal had her thinking about Kaitlyn. It was a memory she tried her best to keep locked away because dwelling on it only took her to a place she couldn't afford to be again- not in this world. Her eyes floated over to Daryl and saw him stoking the fire, more to give his hands something to do than anything else. She wondered if he ever regretted it, stepping in like her guardian angel and helping her through the death of her only daughter.

Carol ran up to their camp before Tessa could get pulled into the shadows of her mind. Not bothering with pleasantries she got right to the point. "We can't find Lori and the others aren't back yet either."

She avoided Tessa's gaze at all costs and focused on Daryl who never took his attention off the fire. "Dumb bitch must've gone off looking for 'em."

"What?" Carol asked, shock written clear across her face.

Daryl slightly shrugged and Tessa dug her nails into the log she was sitting on as the woman's voice grated her nerves. "Yeah she asked me to go, told her I was done being an errand boy."

"And you didn't say anything?"

The accusing tone in Carol's voice was too much for Tessa who couldn't keep her mouth shut anymore. "What now he is a messenger too?" The distain was thick in her voice. "He does more than he is asked to for you fucking people and instead of a simple thank you here you are asking him for more. It disgusts me that you're more concerned with the whereabouts of the group whore, who is probably off screwing the first dick she can jump on, than you were for your own child."

Carol shook her head and went to walk away but only after a few steps she turned back around, finding the courage to say what she had to. She disregarded Tessa completely as she spoke to Daryl. "Don't do this. Please. I've already lost my girl."

Tessa went to reach for Daryl's knife but he stood up, "That wasn't my problem neither."

The two women watched as he stalked off into the night and Tessa nearly growled at her, "You need to leave him be. He's not one to put his hands on a woman but that doesn't mean I won't put you in a shallow grave, sweetheart."

**X-X-X**

Not wanting to leave Daryl to brood by himself Tessa invited herself to stay with him until the guilt wasn't pressing down on him so hard. He had muttered a few choice words as she threw her sleeping bag in his tent but otherwise let it be. She never thought she would acquire a taste for squirrel but couldn't deny that it seemed to hit the spot that night. She didn't bother with useless conversation that would only push him further away instead sat there in comfortable silence until he tried to give her some of his meal too.

"Daryl, no, you need to eat," Tessa refused and was met with a scowl that would have sent a lesser woman running for the hills. He mumbled something about her getting too damn skinny and she ripped the meat in half, sticking the smallest part into her mouth before shoving the rest into his. She licked her fingers clean as a thought came to mind, "Hey, Daryl."

"Hmm?"

Tessa sighed and she looked towards the lit farm house, "We don't have to stay with them. They can't be the only people left, Lord help us if they are, but we can go off on our own or find a different group." He snorted in response but it was enough for her to know he wouldn't leave which meant she was stuck with them as well. "Well, don't sit out here all night, okay?" She got up from her spot and dusted off the back of her pants as she headed for the tent.

"Feelin' alright?" His eyes were squinted to see her in the light cast from the fire, searching for any reason she would be sick or hurt.

She couldn't help but smile at his concern, "I'm fine just a headache, nothing a little sleep won't cure."

She felt his eyes on her until she had zipped the tent closed to keep as many bugs out as possible. Not that it was much use with the holes he had poked in the mesh but it was better than nothing. She crawled into her sleeping bag and listened to the crackling of the fire until she finally drifted off.

Tessa woke with a start, her heart beating hard against her chest as the last images of her daughter haunted her dreams. It took her a few seconds to realize she was in Daryl's tent and not stuck in the past but when she went to lay back down she heard him shouting, "Just go. I don't want you here."

"You've got to be fucking kidding me," she mumbled as she climbed out of her sleeping bag and unzipped the tent to step out into the cool night air.

Daryl was in Carol's face, the tension making his shoulders rigid. "You're a real piece of work, lady."

"What are you doing here, Carol?" Tessa made her presence known and she could see the woman's attitude slightly falter.

Carol stood her ground though, refusing to back down, and Tessa had to wonder where she pulled the strength. The timid little mouse finally standing up to the ferocious lion. "I came to talk to Daryl, nothing that concerns you."

"Seems to me like he made it perfectly clear that he doesn't want you here so unless I'm missing something then it's time for you to leave," Tessa crossed her arms over chest.

Carol's gaze left Tessa's and landed on Daryl who had been pacing back and forth. "Maybe if your heart was in it you would have looked harder for her," the words came out soft but it was enough to stop Daryl in his tracks.

Tessa stepped closer to Carol until she was right in her face, "What the fuck did you just say?"

"He said it himself," Carol tried to not shy away from the intimidating redhead. "Said the only reason he was out there in the first place was because there was nothing better to do. Maybe if his heart was in it he would have found her before…" Carol swallowed hard and shook her head, refusing to cry. "She could have been saved."

Tessa reeled her arm back and punched Carol square in the jaw, quickly losing any control over her hatred for this woman. The excuses that poured from her mouth were pathetic and she was sick of hearing them, all they were doing was giving the man behind her enough guilt to drown in. She would rather die herself before she ever let that happen and she resisted the urge to spit on the woman. Daryl didn't step between the two but kept his gaze on Tessa and she could feel it boring into her back, keeping her from fully destroying the bitch. Carol held the side of her face as tears welled up in her eyes and her eyes flashed to Daryl for help.

"You're right, Carol, she could have been saved," Tessa's calm demeanor had Carol confused but she continued before Daryl thought she was siding with her. "Sophia could have been saved if her mother didn't let her wander the graveyard of cars because she was too busy picking out clothes. She could have been saved if you went after her instead of standing on the side of the road crying out for her safety. She could have been saved if you actually gave a shit about your daughter and did your job as a parent."

"What do you know about being a mother," Carol spat back as a last attempt.

"I know that I almost died trying to save my daughter but that man," Tessa's gaze never wavered as her arm went out toward where Daryl was standing, "Saved me. She wasn't as lucky. So, next time you want someone to tell your sob story to go find someone who gives a fuck. Life sucks, but you don't get to call a timeout when shit gets real. Now, I'm not going to ask you again. Go the fuck away." Carol stood there for a second before realizing her defeat and cowering back to the shadows of the night.

"Tess…" Daryl's voice calmed her enough and she turned to go back in the tent.

She stopped with her hand on the zipper, "Don't, Daryl. I'm not going to stand there and listen to her belittle you like that. You deserve so much more than the shit this life has thrown at you." She stepped into the tent but poked her head back out when he didn't follow. "Dixon, I ain't sleeping unless you're in here with me."


End file.
